Automobile-body support.



W. G. MAYER.

AUTOMOBILE BODY SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 3. 1916.

Patented June 19, 1917.

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"WITNESSES facilitate access to the latter.

WILLIAM G. MAYER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMOBILE-BODY SUPPORT.

Application filed October 3,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 'ILLIAM G. MAYER,

- a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automobile-Body Supports; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention pertains to automobile-body supports, that is to say to the means for connecting the body of an automobile, especially a commercial truck, to the chassis or frame of the machine. In the ordinary construction of automobiles, particularly commercial trucks, a great deal of work and time has had to be spent whenever it was necessary to remove the body from the chassis; moreover, the connecting devices used were such that it was not possible to effect the removal of the body without damage to the latter, as by means of tearing up floor boards or the like. Besides this, the ordinary connecting devices between the body and the truck are such that very little room is left beneath the body, to permit access to the machinery carried at that part of the chassis. It is an object of my invention to provide for so connecting the body to the chassis that itmay be easily and quickly removed and replaced on occasion arising. It is another object of my invention to provide for connecting the body to the chassis in such a way that no damage to the body, and no cutting or the like of the body, is necessary, when the body is to be removed or replaced. It is another object of my invention to provide a means for connecting the body to the chassis which will leave an increased space between the bottom of the body and the mechanisms carried by the chassis, and thus It is another object of my invention to provide a simple and economical supporting device for conmating the body to the chassis, which device will be of such a nature as to admit of its use with varying characters and sizes of bodies and varying characters and sizes of chassis. And other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following specification taken in connection with. the claims annexed thereto.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a por tion of a delivery truck having the body connected to the chassis by means of sup- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917'.

1916. Serial No. 123.507.

ports constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of one of the side supports. showing the same in position upon the side bar of a chassis;

Fig 3 is a view looking from the direction of the line 3-3 of Fig. *2; and

Fig. 1 is a side view showing one of the end supports.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the following specification and the several figures of the accompanying drawing.

Referring now to cates the chassis of a delivery truck. which chassis includes a pair of side bars 11. and an end bar 12. These bars are usually in the form of channel irons. The truck body 13 is provided, on its under side, with a plurality of transversely extending wooden bolsters ll. of which one, 11, is so located as to be situated above the end bar 12 of the chassis when the body is in place. In carrying my invention into effect, I connect the body to the chassis by means of sockets int-o which the bolsters l-l and 11 fit, and to which bolts are removably secured, the sockets being connected to the bars of the chassis. The sockets employed are, in the embodiment now being described, of two kinds, one kind being employed for receiving the bolsters 11, and the other kind being employed for receiving the end bolster 14.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 2 and 3. which show a support for receiving the bolsters 1%. each of these supports comprises a flat stem 15, which is of such a length as to be somewhat longer than the depth of the largest channel iron ordinarily forming part of a truck chassis. At its'upper part, the stem 15 is projected outward, at one side, to form a foot 16, the lower face the drawing, 10 indi-;

of which is adapted to rest upon the upper In order to secure the supports in place, each of them has associated with it a clampingplate 21. This clamping plate engages the side bar 11 on the side opposite to that which is engaged by the stem 15, and is secured, at its upper end, to the stem 15, by means of a carriage bolt 22 passing through the clamping plate and the stem. The clamping plate is secured, at its lower end, to the stem 15, by means of asecond carriage bolt 23, passing through both parts. Ordinarily, the holes for the bolt 23 are not bored in advance, but are bored at the time of fitting the supports in place. In this way, it is possible to have the bolts 22 and 23 fit closely against the upper and lower faces of a side bar of any depth.

Each of the supports which are to be attached to the end chassis bar 12, and which are toreceive the bolster 1%, includes a stem 15, afoot 16, a clamping plate 21, and bolts 22 and 23, which are similar to the parts 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23 of the support described above, and which are attached to the end bar 12, in the same way as that in which the latter are attached to the side bar 11. The socket 17 "with its side flanges 18' and 19, is, however, turned at right angles tow the position which is occupied by the socket 17. It is thus in a position such that it can accommodate the end bolster 14', when the support is attached to the end chassis bar 12.

\Vith the aid of the device described above, the operation of removing the body from the chassis is very easily and quickly performed. It is only necessary to take out the bolts 20 and 20, whereupon the body can be lifted vertically away from the chassis.

The replacing of the body portion andthe chassis is equally easy to effect. It will'be noted, further, that either operation can be performed" without cutting or otherwise marring the body, and that there is no tendency to damage the body in any way. Apart from the advantage which lies in the ease of removing and replacing the body, the operation of originally connecting the body to the chassis is itself very easily performed. The supports employed are of an exceedingly simple and cheap construction; and their use. results in an economy of material. It

' maybe noted, still further, that the supports beneath the body. v 1

Another important advantageof'the deof bodies to be used in connection with the.

provide a considerable space between the floor of the bodyand the top of the chassis, and thus facilitate inspection, repair, or the like, of the mechanisms carried by the chassis vice lies in the fact that the ease with which the body-bolsters may be removed from the sockets makes it practicable for a plurality chassis of one machine; so that, for instance,

the machine maybe used in the delivery of named portion of said stem, and a pair of clamping devices for drawing said bar toward said stem, whereby such chassisbar is clamped between said stem and said clamping bar, said clampin devices being separated so as to inclose said chassis bar between them. v

2. The combination with an automobile truck comprising a chassis havin side bars and an end bar, and a body havlng a plurality of bolsters extending across the lower part thereof, of means for connecting said body to said chassis, said connecting means including a plurality of supports, each of said supports comprising a stem having a portion adapted to engage against OIIB'SldG of one of the chassis bars, and having a second portion adapted to rest upon such bar, a clamping plate cooperating with the firstnamed portion of said stem, to secure said support to said chassis bar, a socket for receivingan end, of one of said bolsters, and means for securing said bolsters in said socket. w

'3. The combination with an automobile truck comprising a chassishaving frame rails or bars, a body having a plurality of bolsters extending across the lower part thereof, of means for connecting said body to said chassis, said connecting means including a plurality of supports, each of said supports comprising a stem having a portion adapted to engage against one side of one of the chassis bars, and having a second portion extending over such bar, a clamping plate cooperatlng with the first named portion ofsaid stem, securin members passing through said plate and said stem above and below said bar, a socket for receiving an end of one of said bolsters, and means for securin said bolster to said socket.

Tn testimony whereof, I the said WILLIAM G. MAYER have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM G. MAYER.

Witnesses: A D. P. MILLER,

N. COOKE. 

